


Gold and Bronze

by AcrylicMist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, Homestuck - Freeform, M/M, Meteorstuck, Psionics, Rare Pairings, Sollux Captor/Tavros Nitram - Freeform, soltav
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:02:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9706280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcrylicMist/pseuds/AcrylicMist
Summary: A gift I wrote for a friend.Just some light SolTav fluff on the meteor.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A request from a internet friend. It's the first I've written from Sollux's point of view and I loved using all of the troll's words in this.  
> I'm still working on five longer fics, and it's nice to have a small project like this to take my mind off of things.  
> This one's for you, HomestuckDork! Hope you like it.

It always got worse when he was alone. The static zing of electricity coiled around his bones and bled out his eyes in streaks of red and blue fire, a statement that he was pushing himself too far.

When the migraines hit he felt them to the roots of his twin horns, and normally this was when he’d seek comfort online by annoying KK over Trollian to give his mind something else to think about besides the constant pain.

Too bad he was always good at focusing on two things at once. It was a fucking shame.

The meteor was a brief reprise from the game, but there was still things he needed to do. Terezi wanted the lab fixed, and that was his job, and Vriska kept trying to hide her shitty doomsday devices in the air vents, and that got in the way of his job, and all of them were driving him up the fucking wall about trolling some stupid pink aliens, which meant that right now he was no help to anyone.

And he couldn’t stand it, migraine or not. Let them distract themselves by fucking around online and making yet more enemies, he was still trying to win a game that had long since become unwinnable.

Was there a joke in there? All of the games that he had played and mastered and won, and here was the one thing he couldn’t hack his way through.

Like I said, it was a fucking shame.

But right now he was hacking away, trying to puzzle out some clusterfuck of a line of tangled code Terezi had given him. It was a jetpack at the core, but it had all sorts of random shit woven into it, even some buldgefucking plant receptacle that turned out to be a real pain in the ass to decode. Jegus, what a mess.

Sollux growled and shoved himself away from the husktop, his thin shoulders nothing but a line of tension and discomfort beneath a shirt emblazoned with a gold II.

This was it, this was what he’d been reduced to. Typing away at some senseless fuckup from another species he couldn’t care less about. He needed to clear his head before the pain got worse.

The halls were dark and he was expecting not to run into anyone. It was hard to keep time in a place with no moons and nothing out the windows but an endless sea of distant stars, but he’d say it was early because he hadn’t slept in a long time and on top of everything else, the strain of near constant insomnia was beginning to take its toll.

The Alchemizer clanged and groaned as it powered up, but dammit he was going to get some food or he’d take the shitty thing apart for scrap. A few hard bangs on the side of the machine with the flat of a hand did the trick, and with a zap he had his evening food. Or morning food, whatever the fuck time was nearer to right now.

Sollux heard someone else approaching on careful feet and set his face into a bland expression. Jegus, please don’t let it be Eridan haunting the grounds, ready to make his shitty existence even worse. Not right now, not with sparks flashing behind his bi-colored eyes and a dull roar in his ears. 

He got lucky. It was Tavros who came sulking around the bend into the small Alchemizer room, still new and unsteady on metal legs.

“Oh, hey Tav,” he said, picking up his plate and grabbing at a utensil.

Tavros came nearer, the joints in his legs creaking as he ducked his head to avoid hitting the door frame with his impressive horns. “Hey Sollux.”

“So, what the fuck are you doing up at this hour? I thought tha-” Sollux’s hand spasmed and suddenly his food was heading towards the floor of the block. He tried to snag it with his psionics, not trusting his normal reflexes at the moment. Instantly the pain grew unbearable, like his thinkpan was liquefying between his ears when he reached out with red and blue sparks. The plate clattered loudly to the floor, spilling food everywhere as the material shattered. He ignored it, his hands flying up to clutch at his head as he snarled, baring his teeth.

“Uh, Sollux? Are you, uh….” Tavros stuttered out, one hand reaching cautiously out.

“I’m fine,” Sollux spit out, red sparks flying off the ends of his horns, static filling his head.

“You don’t look fine,” Tavros said plainly, an unfamiliar look of stubbornness on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” He spat hatefully, hating himself, hating his own weakness, “Just fuck off already. I can handle it.”

Tavros squared his shoulders and stood taller, and Sollux noticed how tall he was now that he didn’t have to look down at him anymore.

“Now,” Tavros said, “I might be new at this confidence thing, but I’m fairly certain that part of it means not letting friends suffer alone in empty Alchemizer blocks.”

That brought a small smile to Sollux’s face, before he remembered he was supposed to be angry. 

“Well,” he said, still holding his head, “I don’t need your help. I can handle this on my own.”

And he could. It’s not like he was a stranger to the migraines and the splitting pain they brought. Six sweeps worth of muscle memory and inbred instincts to suffer alone in the dark made his words acidic and cutting.

The other troll didn’t seem to take the hint.

“But why would you want to?” Tavros asked quietly.

And Sollux was stumped. Through all of the clattered noise in his pan, he couldn’t find any reason that wasn’t just his brand of bullshit pessimism or narcissistic bravado. 

“Because,” he finally settled on an answer that wouldn’t taste like a lie. “I’m just an asshole. Isn’t that all the reason I need to fuck up my own life even further?”

“But,” Tavros said again, stepping closer, “Why would you want to?”

“Again,” Sollux forced out, breathing harder, “Asshole. Now fuck off Tav.”

The creaking of metal joints and the flex of steel sounded against the enclosing walls of the block. The noise set Sollux’s teeth on edge and he nearly snapped something hateful at the troll who just wouldn’t leave him alone, but then he felt a soothing hand settle on his shoulder and something deep within him, something whirling and flashing and screaming wrong wrong wrong, went still.

The change was palpable. Some of the tension fell off him like he’d let a weight drop to the floor. He could breathe again and the air wasn’t tinged with red and blue, pounding in time to the beat of his bloodpusher. 

Tavros leaned closer, his sturdy form warm and solid, and just for a second Sollux let himself consider leaning into Tavros, for once just taking what comfort he could without overthinking everything.  
But he could never shut off that part of his thinkpan and his self-hatred was nearly large enough to rival Karkat’s and he was hurting and in pain and convinced that somehow this was all his fault, so instead he shook Tavros’s hand off his shoulder with a snarl.

Or he would have, if he hadn’t caught the gentle look of pity in the other troll's eyes.

The look froze him to the spot and stole the offending words from off his lips.

Tavros was radiating the same calming presence he used on wild beasts and feral lusii, his form a comforting and calming presence. Sollux had never felt anything like it before. It wasn’t a touch that wanted anything in return. Tavros wasn’t doing this to manipulate or to overpower, and he couldn’t quite categorize the contact without those ingrained descriptors.

It was… nice. Soothing. The pain was lessened with Tavros’s hand on him in a way that he didn’t understand but Jegus he wasn’t going to complain about it. Not when he could think straight for the first time in days.

“I, uh, “Tavros said, slowly, like he was still unsure of himself, “Is this alright?”

Sollux still had no idea how to vocalize. The skill had left him completely, but he nodded slowly and Tavros’s face cleared, became something brighter and happy. It was like watching the sun start to color the darkened sky, the first shy blushes of bronze raising into its soft gray canvas. The freckles that dusted the ridge of his nose reminded Sollux suddenly of stars and he looked away before he could be caught staring, certain that by this point he was blushing too.

Tavros shifted closer, and this time Sollux did lean more solidly into him. He didn’t try to label this or force it to make sense. His quadrants were fucked up and always had been but for once he was alright with just existing in the moment. He was content to just let this happen and not overthink things or expect too much.

They stayed like that for a while, long after Sollux was certain his headache was gone. Long enough that his eyelids began to droop and he jolted back to consciousness with start.

“Hey, Tav,” Sollux said, remembering something, “I have some oil for those new joints. To take the squeak out of them.”

“I’d like that,” Tavros said, equally as sleepy and content.

Sollux would not call the stirrings he felt red, not yet.

But, they had time left on the meteor to kill and a time limit counting down over their heads and Sollux felt ready to say fuck it all and just go with it. Just let what happens happen and not worry about changing anything. Because if this was what fate had on store for him, this tender embrace and trusting comfort so selflessly given, he wasn’t going to complain.


End file.
